NASHVILLE — Cordova area residents have no legal authority to force a public referendum on de-annexing their subdivision from Memphis, State Atty. Gen. Robert E. Cooper said in an advisory opinion released Thursday.

The opinion confirms a similar legal opinion by State Election Coordinator Mark Goins last month that halted efforts by a group of Cordova residents to call a de-annexation referendum in their area this summer.

Cooper's opinion references neither Cordova nor Memphis by name. But State Rep. Steve McManus, who represents the Cordova area, requested the opinion on behalf of the residents.

McManus and de-annexation supporters met Thursday night at the Old Cordova Community Center and decided to continue their petition drive despite Cooper's opinion. Josh Fox, head of the Cordova's Voices website and spokesman for the de-annexation effort, said the group hopes to get 40,000 to 45,000 signatures, then take those to the City Council and to the state legislature. "That way, we can stand up there and say, ‘This is what the people who put you in office want.'"

Fox said the Cordova residents are part of "grass roots groups all across Tennessee that are asking the same thing. There are upset people all over the state that are upset because they got annexed without having a say in it."

McManus said the effort "will be more of a marathon rather than a sprint" with de-annexation supporters having to convince elected leaders — "and people running for office" — that citizens should have a say about how government is run.

"What it boils down to," said Fox, "is that we're not going to stop. We're not going to be defeated."

In the new opinion, Cooper confirmed that under state law, any de-annexation referendum must be initiated by the legislative body of the incorporated city or town: in this case, the Memphis City Council.

Asked specifically whether the Tennessee Constitution requires that citizens in a territory proposed to be de-annexed "be allowed to hold a referendum to approve any such de-annexation," the attorney general said: "No." McManus's question asked specifically about Article 1, Section 1 of the state Constitution, which provides "That all power is inherent in the people... to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they think proper."

But the AG says other provisions in the constitution give the legislature the exclusive authority to set the rules on how municipal annexations occur, and that the Tennessee Supreme Court has specifically concluded that the state constitution creates a constitutional right for citizens to vote on annexation issues.

Cordova area residents last month petitioned the Shelby County Election Commission to conduct a referendum in a swath of Memphis territory from Cordova east to the Fayette County line.

But acting on the earlier opinion by the state election coordinator's office, the Election Commission on May 15 rejected the request to hold a referendum.

The state legislature in April approved a moratorium on new municipal annexations of residential and farm property without the owners' consent that runs through May 15, 2014, while a state agency studies annexation issues for lawmakers to consider next year.